|
We
look this week at the last portion in the book of Genesis
which speaks of the blessings and curses that Yaakov gives
to his sons before he dies. The Jewish Interpretation
sees a Messianic reference in the very first words of
the blessings which talks about the end
of days. Rabbi Quimhi (Radak) says: "Everywhere
that there is mention of the Last Days, the days of Messiah
are intended."
It
is the testament of Yaakov to them. He begins with his
first born son from Leah, continues with the sons of his
concubines and ends with Rachel's sons. Our sages say
that when he spoke to Reuben, Levi and Simeon, he was
upset and was very hard on them. Judah was the fourth
son and while he was waiting for his turn, he was trembling
in fear believing that he was doomed. He knew what he
had done and by this time Yaakov also knew that Judah
had sold Joseph to the Midianites. In spite of this, Yaakov
spoke to him in a very endearing manner. By his blessing,
Yaakov reveals to Judah that he will be the leader of
all the tribes, they will acquire his name-"Yehudim"
and through his seed King Mashiach will come.
Genesis
49: 8-12 deal specifically with Judah and are rich in
meaning. They have inspired much debate from both Christian
and Jewish scholars. Sadly, a lack of understanding of
the depth of meaning in the Hebrew as well as Hebraic
context can cause Christian scholars to misinterpret these
passages. Also due to the differences in culture where
they use logic instead of holism, they lose much depth
to the meaning. For example, one of the methods which
Hebrew scholars use to look at Mashiach is gematria, the
study of numbers where each letter has a numerical value.
T his method is founded in the Wisdom of Solomon 11: 22
: "G-d has prepared everything according to measure,
number and weight." Alluding to the fact that the
Scriptures go far beyond our human understanding to the
perfect or divine: the numerical value for "Mashiach"
xsm and
some others words like nachash (serpent) sxn,
Yavo Shiloh" hlys
aby (Gen
49:10) add up to 358, and for that reason they have messianic
implications.
Some
scholars maintain that Shiloh in its original form was
"moshlo" - their ruler, making the Messiah the
ruler of the nations. Our sages also say that Shiloh as
"Shalev" means "peaceable" which comes
from shalvah "peace" alluding to Messiah being
the Prince of Peace. The sages say in the Targums of Shiloh:
"He
is the Messiah King and his
(shelo)
is sovereign power." This is how Onqelos understood
the matter. The Midrash also interpreted the words shai
loh to mean 'gifts
for him', because Ps 76:12 says: "Let
them bring gifts to the One to be feared." (Mikraoth
Gedoloth). It can also mean, according to Mean Loez "shilya"
hyls referred
to Deut. 28:57 meaning placenta or amniotic sack where
the baby is nourished. This alludes to the fact that Messiah
would be born from a woman and thus would be human. This
can lead us to Gen. 3:15 concerning the offspring of the
woman who will crush the head of the serpent. So many
images of Messiah are drawn from these few verses.
The
rabbis try to understand "Melech Mashiach" who
will bring in the Messianic Age. In this prophecy of Judah,
we can see that the root of Jesse actually becomes the
root of Judah since Melech David, son of Jesse comes from
the line of Judah. What a beautiful picture of Melech
Mashiach.
Gen.49
vs. 9 speaks of the lion, as a cub and as a mighty lion.
Picture what the lion meant at the time of Yeshua. It
was the symbol of the tribe of Judah. To understand more
fully what Yaakov was referring to, it is important to
study the life of the lion. If a male lion dies the next
lion to take over the pride will approach the lioness
and kill all her cubs in order to secure that the next
generation will come from his seed. Here Yaakov was ensuring
the maintenance of the lineage of Israel through Judah.
Melech David himself was said to have the heart of a lion.
One picture can speak more than a thousand words.
Another
picture of Messiah comes from the "scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between
his feet…" This lawgiver qqxm
(Mechokek) speaks of the bringing of the Torah. The ruler
will clarify the Scriptures, always maintaining authority.
Yeshua is the embodiment of the living Torah and came
to explain it more fully.
Also
"he
tethers his donkey to the vine…"
is a messianic term. The donkey is a docile animal coming
in peace and denotes humility. The Messiah will not impose
his authority by force. When discussing the donkey, the
reference is made to Moses, "who took his wife and
sons and put them on a donkey "(Ex 4:24). And we
can see that the second Moses, "The Messiah"
as: "he
is lowly and riding upon a donkey, on a colt, the foal
of a donkey" (Zech. 9:9).The Messiah
humble Himself.
The
Targumim also understand the vine to be Israel and the
word for donkey iyroh,
In Hebrew: city = iyr; 'his city' iyro implies
Jerusalem where Messiah will come.
During
the time of Yeshua, the people all understood these concepts
and the people knew when he wrote into Jerusalem on a
donkey exactly what that meant. They were expecting Melech
Mashiach who would come to make changes in a peaceful
way (Isaiah 11) and they cried out Melech ben David, save
us. They did not want to accept that he was coming as
Mashiach ben Yosef, the suffering Messiah. They wanted
a liberator, the conquering king Messiah.
How
many of us can really imagine and understand what Messiah
is? Our greatest problem is in accepting him outside the
framework of our preconceived ideas. According to the
Rabbis when Messiah comes, we will all be either saints
or total depravity will rule. When he did come, he didn't
fulfill their expectations so they denied him. Today Israel
is still suffering from that same pride. There is enough
evidence that he is the Messiah but they still refuse
to accept it. Let us be careful not to miss the Messiah
because of our own expectations or because he has been
made today into a foreign god, unrecognizable by our own
people. When you know the truth and turn away out of sheer
pride or rebellion, the consequences can destroy you.
Remember, Messiah came for the "am ha aretz"…the
simple people.
May
G-d add blessings to His Word!
Rabbi
Percy Johnson
Netanel
ben Yochanan
[nxy
[b lantn
©
2008 Use by Permission
Kehilat
She’ar Yashuv
|
